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Topic: My Home-Made Smoker (Read 3760 times)

I found myself needing a smoker and, being frugal, I decided to make one.I used an empty disposable propane tank for the outer body. I wrenched off the threads and it created a hole that was perfect for a piece of 1/2" copper. I secured that with a conduit nut from the inside.Making the bellows had me perplexed until I came up with the idea of cutting all the pages out of a small hardcover book and using the hard covers and the binding as a hinge. Of course, no project is complete without duct tape.I put some trim stock inside to make it spring back after being compressed. For the airway, I used a piece of brass cut from a spent rifle cartridge.

Inside the propane canister is a soup can with a bunch of holes in it. The propane canister has a false bottom in it so that REALLY helps with the heat. I just used some leather to act as a hinge for the top of the smoker. That's the only drawback, I wish it had a tighter seal. It doesn't hurt anything the way it is (it just adds a little smoke for the flyers!) I think that I can make a slit in the outer main portion of the propane canister and taper it in a little. That would make the top fit right over the main body.

"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...And we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

Now that is pretty neat. How hard was it to remove the threads? Does it come out clean?Jim

KINDA clean. :) I used a very big pipe wrench and it did not unscrew. The metal right around the threads ripped. This nice thing is - it was a nice round hole and perfect size for the copper fitting. I tried another canister later and got the exact same results.

way to go, making things is fun to do, imo. I make all sorts of things I do not actually 'have' to make. I enjoy working with wood and metal especially, so it is worth it, imo. Maybe one day you will feel like actually getting higher end supplies, like copper sheeting, leather scrap, thin hardwood with nice graining, and actually tin smith a professional one together, that will serve you for many decades. you obviously know how to put one together as it is now that works. How does the longer pipe work compared to a shorter one?

I still have my first homemade smoker. try this to seal the two halves. take a inner tube for a bicicel and cut a section out of it and roll it onto the bottom portion of the smoker and when you are lit close the lid and roll the tube up over to seal it. It works for mine.

I've often thought about making a nice copper one, and embossing or engraving it or something cool. so far thats as far as I've gotten...but it is clearly a good platform for a beekeeper to make unique.